Being Recognised

This is our third Christmas as a family and next month sees the anniversary of when the smalls came home to us. Even after 3 years we are still learning and we still make mistakes. Even after 3 years there are days which feel like they last for years and we are grateful when it comes to bed time. But, after 3 years, we wouldn't change anything.

Christmas is out worst time of year. The change in routine, the added excitement and constant bombardment of everything Christmas related adds to the anxiety levels and makes breakdowns much more common. A few days ago was no exception - a breakdown because we asked him to get out of the bath and he wanted more time. 40 minutes later calm was restored.

At the weekend we also a breakdown to manage, he was over tired, over excited and emotionally pickled. We chose to continue with the standard routine and wen to rugby but then training was interrupted by a visit from Santa, another disruption. It ended in him sat in the middle of the pitch crying, screaming and generally refusing to do anything so we went away, back to the car, away from all other distractions to calm down. It must have looked terrible to the other parents watching, I didn't even reason with him, I just  gently took him arm and took him away.  It turns out he wanted to be in the photo with the other children, one destined to be in the newspaper and I had refused and asked him to come away. All I wanted was to keep him safe but he saw this as me not letting him be the same as his friends.

This does lead to another dilemma -at what point do I relax about pictures of them being out there? In the paper, on the school website, even on my own facebook page?
Looking back at old photos they have both changed so much in the last 3 years that neither are recognisable at a glance. But I want to keep them safe, I want to keep the risk of being found by birth family as small as possible. I might be being paranoid, they might not even be looking for them but, and there is always a but, what if?